Naperville Park District employees, from left, Ben Palczynski, Trevor Stibbe and John Teper show the newly outfitted tractor with a plexiglass shield they developed this summer to deflect dust and debris.

Naperville Park District employees, from left, Ben Palczynski, Trevor Stibbe and John Teper show the newly outfitted tractor with a plexiglass shield they developed this summer to deflect dust and debris. (Naperville Park District)

Grooming the ball fields owned by the Naperville Park District is a lot safer and cleaner these days thanks to a problem-and-solution invention created by its maintenance staff.

And someday, it might even receive a patent.

This summer parks specialist John Teper, along with colleagues Trevor Stibbe and Ben Palczynski, were looking for a way to make grooming the local ballfields a cleaner operation and less dangerous to themselves and others.

“I’ve been doing this kind of work for 10 years including eight here at the Park District and when guys go out and drag the fields, they come back covered in dust that gets in their eyes and nose and covers the clothes and makes a mess when you get in your car,” Teper said. “We decided to see if we could rig some kind of windshield on the back of the tractor to deflect the dust.”

The first solution involved using a piece of plywood, but the driver’s vision was blocked.

Teper said the men decided to then try plexiglass which would still shield them from the dust as well as allow them to see what was behind them.

“We shopped around and finally went to an ice rink where they had some broken pieces of hockey boards and we cut and beveled a piece of plastic, fitted it to the tractor, and it worked,” Teper said.

Safety manager Becky Cooper said she found out about the crew’s invention “by accident” from another employee and wanted to learn more.

“I thought it was a cool idea and I went over and asked the men to show me what they did,” Cooper said. “We worked to tweak it and decided to submit the plans for a grant through our District’s safety committee.”

Naperville Park District

A tractor is outfitted with a plexiglass shield to help deflect dust and debris while dragging baseball fields.

A tractor is outfitted with a plexiglass shield to help deflect dust and debris while dragging baseball fields. (Naperville Park District)

Cooper said employees are encouraged three or four times a year to submit safety ideas and that the dust shield was awarded an $800 Park District grant in addition to a statewide Park District Risk Management Agency grant worth $1,500.

“We and other park districts are all part of a risk management pool and each year the PDRMA offers safety grant to members,” Cooper said.

The icing on the cake is that the invention has been reviewed by the Park District’s attorney and submitted for a U.S. provisional patent.

“This is the first step in the process and it doesn’t mean we’re going to get one [a patent],” Cooper said. “We’ve already had other people contact us about building them one. We want to share the idea that can be a benefit to others and keep them safe. This is something for the greater good.”

In an email announcing the grants, Executive Director Ray McGury praised the trio for their innovation.

“The Naperville Park District has a culture of creativity and innovation, allowing employees to do what they do best, which is to provide great service to our taxpayers while always looking for ways to be more efficient and fiscally responsible,” McGury wrote. “Trevor, John and Ben are great examples of the outstanding work and dedication our Park District staff provides day in and day out.”

Teper said having a U.S. provisional patent application filed for what is being called the “rear mounted tractor dust deflection shield” is an unexpected surprise.

“It’s nice being recognized for your ideas and coming up with something that makes your life easier,” he said. “It’s kind of funny that this idea took wind and people liked it, but it’s something that was needed out there.”

Naperville Park District

A new plexiglass dustshield mounted to a tractor was developed this summer by three employees of the Naperville Park District to help drag ballfields.

A new plexiglass dustshield mounted to a tractor was developed this summer by three employees of the Naperville Park District to help drag ballfields. (Naperville Park District)